


Don’t Leave Me Talking to the Wind

by Molly_Hats



Series: Batboys & Bluebirds [1]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Detective Comics (Comics)
Genre: @anyone who finds this OOC, AU where Bruce respects and appreciates Steph as a competent vigilante and daughter figure, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Awkward Batdad, Bruce is named Thomas, Gen, Harper has few joys in life but they include mothering Steph and driving Thomas insane, His personality is the same, STFU thanks let me live
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-03-22 00:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13752282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Molly_Hats/pseuds/Molly_Hats
Summary: Harper Row is the new owner of the Thompkins Clinic, a licensed GP who’s doing good for the people of Blüdhaven and (reluctantly) the vigilante community which she was once part of.  The clinic grows and so does Harper’s new family of runaways and orphans.  But her old family and old life slowly creep back in—her old guardian, Thomas ((Bruce)) Wayne, and his new collection of child soldiers come across her path more and more often.Harper handles all this well enough...but then discovers that her unofficial little sister, Stephanie Brown, has been moonlighting under her old codename, Bluebird.  One thing is for certain: Harper Row’s life was never going to be simple, but she likes it that way.





	1. Chapter 1

_He was at the funeral. She vividly remembered the last time she talked to him--he’d dropped Maps off at her clinic and vanished again, but not before saying the usual trite crap. “I’m sorry, Harper.” “I didn’t mean for this to happen, Harper.” “I understand if you can’t forgive me, Harper.”_

_He stood by the casket in the graveyard, flowers in hand, face solemn. Well, a bit more solemn than usual. Harper took a deep breath, stood up straight to her full height of admittedly not-that-tall, and walked with a determined dignity to stand by him._

_“I heard she left you the clinic.”_

_Harper nodded._

_“She chose well.”_

_An unexpected lump swallowed Harper’s throat, and she cursed herself for being this touched. Yeah, the great and terrible Batman rarely bestowed compliments, but it wasn’t like she needed his approval._

Harper picked up the empty food tray from the bed and smiled at the old woman lying on it. “There you go, ma’am,” she said. “Do you need anything else before I go?”

The old woman smiled and shook her head. “Thank you, dear.”

“Just doing my job,” Harper said, stepping away and pulling the curtain back around the cot. She turned around and nearly jumped at the sight of a figure she’d never expected to encounter here.  
“Batman,” she said, her voice torn between a dozen possible emotions. Her eyes immediately landed on the boy in his arms: she didn’t recognize his costume, but she didn’t keep up with the cape and cowl crowd these days.

“Get him onto a bed,” she commanded immediately, setting down the tray. “What happened?”

“Hit a bunch of times, but it’s the stab wound I’m worried about.” Batman pointed to a particularly blood-soaked part of the costume, where Harper could see bloodstained skin through the kevlar. “Possibly poisoned.”

“Who?” Harper said, businesslike as she sterilized her tools.

“Cheshire.”

“Okay. I can handle that, she has a limited arsenal,” Harper said, mostly to herself. She glanced at Batman and said, “get out of my operating room. If you need to make yourself useful, we just finished dinner. You could wash--”

He was gone before she finished the sentence. Harper smiled, tight and small, as she slipped on her surgeon’s mask. 

 

Thomas Wayne, still in full Batman regalia, awkwardly walked into the kitchen. The closest worker to him, a blonde a little younger than Damian, stared at him for a second, open-mouthed. Then she simply handed him a dripping plate and said, “you dry? Rag’s over there, wash your hands first. I’m Steph.”

Thomas obeyed.

When Harper emerged, bare-handed and without her mask, she found Thomas still dutifully doing dishes, reaching places Steph couldn’t to Steph’s poorly hidden annoyance. 

“Batman,” Harper said, and both Steph and Thomas immediately spun to her, dishes halfway to their designated spots. “Your son will make it.” 

“He’s your son?” Stephanie said in amazement as Thomas frowned at Harper. Harper smiled.

“Thank you for helping with the dishes, Batman. And if you wouldn’t mind, we could use some funding if you’d consider making a donati—“

“Consider it done,” Batman said, setting down the dish. “Thank you. Dr. Row.”

“It’s what I do,” Harper repeated. “I treat people who come to me. No matter who they are.”

Batman nodded. “Does he need to stay here?”

“Take him home. He’ll get better care with you and your…”. She searched for a proper euphemism.

“Understood.”

Harper tried to ignore Steph’s look of absolute shock and constant mouthing of phrases like _WHAT THE FUTZ, YOU KNOW BATMAN?,_ and _SERIOUSLY HARPER?_ behind Batman’s back. 

Batman turned to leave. 

“And—Batman. Stay safe. All of you.” Her voice almost showed some vulnerability, if one knew her well enough. Unfortunately, Steph and Thomas did.

Batman stopped, gave a half smile, and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”


	2. Chapter 2

_“Harper, this is Thomas. Thomas has been thinking about adoption for a long time--he lost his parents very similarly to how you did.”_

_Harper stared up at Thomas. He wasn’t very tall, as grown-ups went, but she still needed to crane her neck. Thomas knelt. Harper’s eyes narrowed._

_Leslie continued to make introductions. “I’ve known him since before he was born. His father worked in this clinic. Thomas was wondering if you and Cullen would like to come and stay with him? He already has one son, Damian, and a lot of pets.”_

_Thomas looked into Harper’s eyes. “I promise you, Harper. I won't throw you out, but I won't make you stay if you don't want to. If you want to be somewhere else, if you feel emancipation would work better, I'll pull strings. But Harper...you and Cullen are welcome here.” He stuck out a hand. “Do we have a deal?”_

_Harper looked up at Leslie, then took Thomas’ hand. “Deal.”_

 

“You. Know. Batman.”

Harper kept calmly making the bed, her hands trembling only the slightest bit as she tucked the contour sheet into the corners. “It’s Gotham, Stephanie. I run a free clinic. Of course I know Batman.”

“Not like that,” Steph said, rolling her eyes and tossing her hair. She practically leapt to the other side of the bed to make eye contact with Harper, tucking in the sheet edge without looking at it. “You _know_ him. Oh my gosh. You were Bluebird!”

“Stephanie—“

“If I went through your closet would I find your costume?”

“Yes. Right beside my attraction to girls.” Harper pinched the bridge of her nose, a habit she’d gotten from Leslie.

“Harperrr,” Stephanie whined. 

“Fine. I was Bluebird, but I quit. You know that.”

“How come?”

Harper grabbed the pillow and began stuffing into into the pillowcase, bunching it up and making it lumpy in her haste. Stephanie reached out and grabbed it, smoothing it out with gentle shakes, watching Harper closely.

“I could do more here,” she said in a voice that brokered no further discussion.

“You seemed pretty hostile—“

“Stephanie, sweetie, I’m a doctor. Liking Batman would go against so many OF my ethics, of Leslie’s ethics.”

“Yeah but…”

Harper made a shushing motion with her hand, drawing her fingers to her thumb with a soft snap. 

She knew that wouldn’t be the end of it, of course, but she had a gang member bleeding out in the next room and couldn’t bother with Stephanie for a bit. She strode out of the room.

Left behind, Stephanie’s eyes wandered to the closet. She glanced at the bed, then haphazardly grabbed a blanket and spread it over the whole to look somewhat presentable, then tossed the pillow on and reluctantly straightened it out when it nearly fell off of the bed. Satisfied, she scooted over to examine the closet’s contents for proof of Harper’s vigilante past (or at least her latent bisexuality).


	3. Chapter 3

_Harper swung her legs as she sat in the waiting room of Leslie’s clinic. Her toes skimmed the floor if she pointed them, and one particularly aggressive swing made her stub her toe. It startled her more than it pained her, but she still bit back some choice Narrows language._

_When Leslie emerged, face sympathetic but not giving much away, Harper ran to her. “Is my Mom okay?”_

_Leslie knelt down, eyes now definitively sad. “I’m sorry, Harper. Your mom didn’t make it.”_

_Harper stared at Leslie for a moment, her eyes wide. She was surrounded by horror, she lived in the Narrows, but up until now her mom had never been apart of it. Her mom had protected her and Cullen._

_Now she was gone. She couldn’t be. Who would take care of them now? ___

__Steph tied the mask onto her face and examined her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes met their reflection, obscured by the reflective blue lenses of the mask, and she smiled._ _

__The Bluebird uniform fit her relatively well. The logo, a small bird silhouette, sat a bit higher on Steph than it had on Harper, and she wasn’t totally sure how to use the tasers, so she left them behind. One thing she knew how to use, though, was the grapple gun._ _

__Deep breath. Fire. Test the line._ _

__Jump._ _

__:::_ _

__Stephanie climbed through the window several hours later, smelling of smoke and smiling like a madwoman. She froze in her tracks._ _

__Harper stood in her path, arms crossed across her chest, the closet door open to reveal the trunk Steph had emptied before the night’s adventure._ _

__“How’d you--”_ _

__“That thing doesn’t breathe,” Harper said. “If you didn’t wash it, we would have smelled it soon enough.”_ _

__Steph’s nose wrinkled and she resisted the urge to sniff her armpit._ _

__“Batman will come after you,” Harper said. “Possibly some of his villains, as well. Did you think of that before you put that on?”_ _

__“Harper,” Steph said, shutting the window and the blinds before turning to face her, “My dad got out of jail. I had to stop him somehow, and nobody’d listen to me.”_ _

__“So you decided to be Bluebird,” Harper supplied. “Did you think about me at all? All the people who rely on me to keep them safe? People that might get targeted now because of this?”_ _

__“Harper, I’m sorry--”_ _

__“You’re going to give that costume to me. You’re never going to put it on again,” Harper said shortly._ _

__“But--”_ _

__“Stephanie, you don’t know anything about Batman or the people he works with and makes enemies with.”_ _

__“Then tell me!” Steph half-yelled, still aware of the hospital around them. “You never tell me anything about him, you’re as quiet as he is!”_ _

__A familiar grunting came from behind the curtains. Harper glanced over, sighed, and pulled it back to reveal a large man in a bat suit. “Speak of the devil,” she said. She waved to Stephanie. “Ask him whatever you want.”_ _

__“Harper--” Batman said, a note of panic and surprise in his voice, but Harper threw her hands up and began to walk out of the room._ _

__“Busy night, sorry, better go check on everyone again,” she threw out without looking over her shoulder._ _

__Steph planted her feet and stared him down. “You’re Batman?” she said, trying not to let her voice shake. She didn’t need his approval she didn’t need his approval shedidn’tneedhisapproval_ _

__He nodded, still crouched on the windowsill. “Who are you?”_ _

__Steph patted the insignia slightly above her chest. “Bluebird.”_ _

__Batman looked past her at the door Harper had just walked out of, his meaning clear. “No, you aren’t.”_ _

__“Why’d Harper give it up?” Steph asked._ _

__“She should be the one to tell you.”_ _

__“That’s what cowards say when they don’t want to explain anything,” Steph goaded._ _

__Batman looked at her as if seeing her for the first time, grunted, and said, “I didn’t tell her something because I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t see the point in telling her. She found out, and she left.”_ _

__“Oh.” Steph said. “She told me to give it up.”_ _

__“She’s right,” Batman said. “I’ve only had two partners, and both were trained from near-birth for the role.”_ _

__Steph shook her head, brow furrowing. “No, you’ve had 3. Batboy, Batgirl, and Bluebird.”_ _

__“That’s beside the point,” Bats growled._ _

__Steph smirked and raised her eyebrows, hands falling to her hips. “Surrrrrre.”_ _

__“Hnn.” Batman swung his cape in front of him and vanished._ _

__Steph rolled her eyes and went over to the curtains to make sure everything was shut and locked before she changed out of her costume. It was, indeed, _her_ costume, and if they wanted it, they’d have to get more creative than a couple of “I’m very disappointed in you” talks._ _


End file.
